You Broke Through
by Canine Cadaver
Summary: The group has been trveling non stop for days, and none have been working harder then Daryl. A bit to hard. Daryl gets sick, as people do. Unfortunalty its under extreme stressful times. He gets lost and found by a loner in the deep woods. She works to get him better and shares her home with his group. Daryl faces conflicts when he finds himself letting someone care.
1. Chapter 1

You Broke Through

I DON'T OWN WALKING DEAD OR DARYL DIXON, BUT I CAN REALLY REALLY WISH FOR IT.

Day six of straight driving. Six days of only stopping to siphon gas from cars they passed. The days had been raining, the nights long and cold. Daryl shifted in the seat of his bike, his jacket and pants were still damp from the day's storm before. He felt exhausted and his body ached from riding. He didn't know how much further he could keep going. As the miles ticked away in front of him he felt his eyelids start to droop a bit and he shook his head to wake himself up. His bike swerved a bit as he attempted to wake himself up. That shocked him awake, but as he continued driving he felt his eyes shutting.

"God" he thought "this driving is murder for me right now, wish we could just stop for a minute" Daryl shot a quick look back at the other cars behind him. Lori was sitting in the front seat and caught the change in Daryl. She had been watching him pretty closely the past couple days.

"Hey Rick, I think Daryl needs to stop. He hasn't gotten a chance to rest in days."

"Well none of us have, we have all been driving for days Lori" Rick replied staring forward. Lori wasn't about to give in on it.

"Well, yes that's true, but the rest of us have been in a car and have taken turns driving and sleeping. When was the last time you saw Daryl sleep?"

Rick started to reply then stopped and took a moment to watch Daryl ahead of them. He saw Daryl's head dip a few times and realized that Lori was might. They needed to stop for Daryl.

"Alright, we will stop for Daryl, but he cannot know we stopped just for him, you know he will want to just keep going if we mention it. But if we stop for a while maybe he can get some warmer clothes on, get some sleep." Lori nodded agreeing to the terms of stopping. Rick honked twice at Daryl, noticing he flinched a bit at the sound. He pulled over, the other cars stopping behind him. Daryl went ahead a bit further then turned back around and stopped by the rest of the caravan. He dismounted from his bike and went up to Rick as he was getting out of the car.

"Hey, why did we stop? Do we need something or what?" Daryl shivered a bit and pulled his jacket a bit closer around him.

"We thought we would end the road trip for a while for today, give everyone a chance to stretch their legs and get out of the cars." Rick said pulling a jacket out of the car, "Here, want to change up a bit? Your jacket still looks damp from that last passing rainstorm we drove through." He extended it out towards Daryl who eyed him a bit warily.

"Eh, I'm alright Rick" he said his teeth chattering a bit, "I'll dry out fast". He quickly turned away and walked back to his bike to check it over. Rick watched him and laid the jacket on top of the car, just in case.

Night came quickly, and Daryl hated it. He couldn't shake the chills he had been having, just couldn't get warm. He had changed his clothes and had even gone back for Rick's jacket. He was sitting inside one of the cars shivering, trying to get himself warm, when Carol knocked on the window.

"Hey, how you feeling" she asked sitting inside the car with him. "Did you get any sleep today once we stopped?"

"I'm fine! Whys everyone on my damn ass today?" he snapped quickly getting out of the car. The night air hit him hard and cut down to his bones. He was started to shiver harder. He walked quickly past Rick and Glenn.

"I'll take night watch…alone" he muttered, his teeth chattering

Rick and Glenn looked at each other, Glenn shrugged and Rick watched Daryl walk into the darkness. Carol walked up to Lori sighing.

"What's wrong Carol?"

"I'm worried about Daryl. He was sitting in your guys car all hunched over and shivering. I know he was trying to hide it, so I tried to not say anything. But he got mad at a comment and left the car. I don't think he slept at all today after we stopped."

"To be honest, he is why we stopped" Lori said, "I saw him swerving a bit on his bike this morning. We have all been in the cars for days, but he has been the only one actually driving all those days, not to mention it's been raining. I think sometimes we take Daryl for granted, he just never stops. I was worried he would get hurt riding, but now I'm kind of concerned about him being sick".

"I think we need to talk to Rick about staying here for a few days" Carol said "we really can't risk any of us getting sick." Lori agreed and they both got up to go find Rick. They found him hunched over a map.

"Rick, we need to talk to you about Daryl" Lori said. "Where is he at?"

"He is on watch, what do you need him for?" Rick said, focusing on the map.

"Rick, Daryl should be sleeping! He has been going, going, going and we are worried that he is getting sick! He has been awake for six days riding that damn bike of his!" Lorie exclaimed.

"I saw him in the car Rick" Carol said "He didn't look good and he was shivering badly. I didn't get a chance to check, but I think he might be getting a fever. I could see some sweat on his face and he looked flushed."

Rick sighed running his hand through his hair.

"What do you want me to do Carol? Daryl isn't a little kid; he is a full grown man. A very stubborn man at that. I can't just go over to him and give him orders. Just let him do what he wants for now. Daryl can take care of Daryl. Let's just leave him alone, leave the man be for a night." He turned from them and went back to going over the map. Lori led Carol away back over to the cars.

"I know what I saw" Carol told Lori, "Daryl is sick and standing out there all night is only going to make it worse." She turned, walked back to the car, got in and slammed the door. Lori was left alone in the night. She waited for moment then returned to her own car where Carl was already sleeping.

Fog hung heavy in the air the next morning. Rick woke up first, exiting the car; he looked around their small camp for Daryl. Not seeing him he made out to find him. Walking up the road a short ways he found Daryl slumped up against the side of a truck. Rick stopped short from him to observe him for a minute unguarded. Daryl had his crossbow down by his feet and he had his arms pulled in tight to his body. Rick watched him rub his hands up and down his arms. Sighing Rick knew the girls had to be right, Daryl wasn't right and he needed to actually rest. He slowly backed up a bit, and then called out to Daryl before coming into his field of view. Daryl immediately straightened up, grabbed his crossbow, and nodded off to Rick and he approached him.

"Hey" he said "Didn't see any walkers all night, heard some deer passing by, along with rabbits, squirrels. I want to get out here later, try and get some meat for us all. Oh ya, I grabbed your jacket last night….thanks." He took it off, handing it out to him. Rick took it from him, taking a good look at Daryl. He saw that Carol was right, he had sweat on his brow and he could see him shivering beneath his jacket. Daryl caught him looking him over.

"What you looking at Rick. You gonna give me the third degree to?"

Rick tried to choose his words carefully.

"Daryl, I'm just a bit concerned for you. You have been running hard for the past seven days now. We all got to watch out for each other, and that includes us watching out for you to. Let me just get a feel on ya, the girls were a bit concerned last night that you might be running a fever, maybe getting a bit sick." He tried reaching out to place his hand on Daryl's forehead to feel for fever. Daryl jerked back, grabbing Rick's wrist before he could touch him. Rick could feel the heat coming through Daryl's skin.

"I'm so damn tired of women not minding their own business! Now you to Rick!" He pushes Rick away from him. "I'm not gonna be watched all day by everyone, I'm done telling people I'm fine. Privacy…damn!" He turned watching out towards the woods. Rick tried following.

"Daryl, wait Daryl! Where you going?"

"I told you, I want to go get some damn meat. Aint no one else gonna do it around here but me!" He shouted over his shoulder at Rick. Rick sighed, but just watched him go. He had felt the beginning fever on Daryl, but thought it best to let him blow off some steam. He turned and walked back towards camp.

Thanks for reading please review.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own walking dead or Daryl Dixon. Thanks to those who reviewed my story, and yes I agree it is nice to read a story where you can actually understand what Daryl is saying. Also thanks for those who are following the story. I will try to not disappoint you all. Hope you enjoy.

Ch. 2

Daryl bent over, resting for a moment. He kept getting winded and it was pissing him off. He had started out stronger tracking a doe, but as the hours wore on he found he couldn't stay focused, he had actually completed lost the trail. Standing back up he wiped his brow with the back off his hand. He pushed his hair back, finding it drenched with sweat. He picked up his crossbow, shouldered it and tried to get his bearings. Everything was looking the same to him. He turned around slowly making a small circle, and then took off deeper into the woods.

T-Dog walked up behind Rick. Glen and come to him asking if he had seen Daryl. T-Dog had to stop and really think before realizing that he hadn't seen him since last night. Both he had Glenn searched all the cars and surrounding area before deciding to go to Rick. Hearing the approach behind him Rick turned to see a couple very concerned faces. He sucked in his breath and just said one word.

"Daryl"

The woods were filled with dark shadows as the sun sank slowly behind the tree line. The temperature was starting its descent as well. It could have been winter out and Daryl wouldn't even have noticed. Sweat steadily dripped down his neck and back, soaking his clothing. He felt like he was burning from the inside out. His eyes were glazed over from the intensity of his fever. He had long ago lost all sense of direction as his fever climbed higher. He just kept trudging forward, dragging his crossbow behind him. Everywhere he turned he thought he saw walkers slowly moving towards him. Every sound made him stop and fumble for his crossbow. He no longer had any comprehension of where he was or how long he had been wandering out in the woods. He came across a steep sloped hill, and started to make his way over it. His head was swimming and his vision started to blur. His crossbow felt like lead as he continued to climb upward. When he made it to the top he found he had dropped it at some point of his ascent. Daryl's vision spun as he stood up; looking back over the edge of the hill he just climbed. He saw his crossbow tangled in some large roots about half way down. As he considered how he was going to go back down for it, he felt an extreme rush of heat overtake his whole body. Staggering as the fever overtook him, he fell to the ground, hitting hard then blacking out.

_Mean while_

The three men scoured the woods in search of Daryl. As the sun started setting Rick called them all back together.

"We can't search out here, once it gets dark". T-Dog and Glenn both nodded, fully understanding. One man down for the group was bad enough, they can't all go missing. Or worse…

Rick continued," Alright, let's stay together and push searching til darkness is right on us. We got to find him. Who knows what kind of shape he is in right now?" With that they stepped back into the shadows. All men had the same thought on their mind. Sophia lost in the woods a few months back, Daryl searching endlessly for here. Never giving up, he just kept pushing til he almost got himself killed over it. But they all knew how that search had ended. They all kept their thoughts to themselves, but they were hoping that this search wouldn't end the same way.

Carol stood in camp, staring out into the woods, hoping she would see someone return. She stood, wringing her hands, trying to hold back tears. Another person she cared about was missing. Hershel walked up behind her softly. He felt for her, he knew her loss, her pain.

"Carol" he said placing his hands upon her shoulders, "I'm sure Daryl is fine, he is a very capable man. Sometimes it seems like he was made, built even, for this kind of world. He hasn't been gone all that long. Just a few hours."

She sighed, turning to Hershel, "Yes, I know, I know. Daryl is strong, tough; nearly impossible to kill it seems at times. But Hershel, you should know above anyone else here. He is human, he has limits. And he pushes his and gets pushed harder than anyone else here. He is sick Hershel, I know he is. If he gets a high fever out there he can get dehydrated, disorientate. And if someone isn't able to help him..!" She was starting to get hysterical as uninhibited tears ran down her face. Hershel tried to calm her down as Lorie ran over hearing Carol's raised voice.

"Carol, Carol…you need to stop and just calm down. We are all worried about Daryl, but I'm sure he is fine. Rick and the others are out there right now searching for him. They should be back any minute." Lorie stood beside Carol and wrapped her arms around the crying woman. They all stopped thou, stood silent as a sound was heard coming from the woods. They held their breath waiting to see who, or what came out of the dark.

Maggie ran forward hugging Glenn as he, T-Dog, and Rick slowly walked into camp. He looked at her and slowly shook his head. Rick walked up to Hershel, Carol, and Lorie. Carol, not seeing Daryl with them, ran to the cars. Lorie followed behind her. Rick, looked him watched them go, turned back to Hershel, looked him hard in the eye and said softly

"We have a problem". Hershel looked down as Rick brought Daryl's crossbow out from behind his back.

"Rest up tonight" Hershel instructed, taking the crossbow from Rick, "We need to get back out there tomorrow, find Daryl, and bring him back."

Finally second chapter done, this one was a bit harder to write. Please read and review guys. I love to hear what you all think. Chapter three coming hopefully soon.


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